Sharing Dreams
by TheTora
Summary: Despite being afraid of most Pokémon, Jenny wants to become a trainer to keep a promise she made to her best friend. However, her mother would never allow her to go on a journey. So, when an opportunity finally arises to go anyway, she obviously takes it. That it involved stealing a Pokémon couldn't be helped. After all, she didn't want to be a hero. She wanted to be the champion.
1. Prologue

This story is based on my play through of Alpha Sapphire, where I follow a bunch of rules. Some are similar to the Nuzlocke Challenge, others are supposed to make the story more logical. I'll add them in, if anyone asks. But of course, just retelling the plot of the game would be boring, so I'll switch things up a bit. Basically, the Pokémon I catch will make it into this story, the rest I make up as I go along. Reviews are much appreciated, as well as criticism. Enjoy reading!

 **Prologue - Making a New Start**

The low rumbling of a truck was audible long before the vehicle even came to view. When it finally turned around the last trees that blocked it from the village, it lumbered onwards slowly on the bumpy road, carefully maneuvering on the narrow lanes, barely grazing the lower hanging branches. The sigh it let out as it came to a halt in front of a neat house at the edge of the forest may as well have been one of relief.

People stood watching from behind their windows, and those on the streets stopped to take a look at the new neighbors. It wasn't an everyday occurrence that someone moved to Littleroot Town, after all. Secrets usually were not kept secret for very long in such a close community. Everybody knew everything about everyone else. That was how things worked around here. And of course, new neighbors meant new faces and new information.

Jenny glanced at her soon-to-be home with narrowed eyes. Everything, from the tiny flower beds beneath the front windows to the pale painted outer walls and the simple wooden door, suggested that there was a stereotypical, happy family living in it. Why did her mother have to decide to move to a stupid little dump like this? Jenny had wanted to stay at their real home.

With a scowl etched deeply into her face, she opened the passenger door and jumped out, leaving her mother on the middle seat alone with the driver of the moving van. She looked around the sleepy village, frowning as she saw all the passengers staring at her. As if they had never seen a fourteen year old girl before. Oh, she could already imagine that they would have a field day gossiping about them. Not that there was much to gossip. It was only her and her mother. Boring.

She noticed light steps behind her. Apparently her mother had finished talking to the move helper. "So, what do you say, dear?"

"What do you want me to say?" Jenny retorted without looking at her.

"Don't you like it? Just take a look around. The houses, the forest, and do you hear all those birds? Littleroot Town is really peaceful, isn't it?"

"You mean boring."

Her mother sighed. "Come on, don't be like that, already. We haven't been here for more than five minutes. Why don't you at least try to enjoy it?"

"And what exactly am I supposed to enjoy? The house that looks like it came straight out of a cheesy family movie? Or the new neighbors that apparently don't have anything else to do but to stare at us, as if we're the newest attraction in a zoo?"

From a sideways glance, Jenny saw her mother furrow her brow, as she was about to reply. Probably some more sugar-coating she could really go without. Just to get away from her only living parent, Jenny fled to her new 'home' and decided to inspect the interior.

A luminous living room that showed off a pair of unexpectedly large windows, a small kitchen with a stove, a refrigerator and a couple of cabinets, a bathroom, her mother's bedroom... ah! She found her new bedroom upstairs, right on the other side of her mother's. Like the rest of the house, it was still barren, just a few cardboard boxes with her name on them in her mother's elaborate writing. What was she trying to win, anyway? Some calligraphy prize?

She ripped open one of the boxes with quite a bit of effort. She could have used some scissors, but then again she would have had to get them from downstairs, where her mother was most likely to be. Now that she had taken refugee in her new room, she really didn't have any intention of leaving anytime soon. It wasn't her room at home, but right now everything was better than being with other people.

She was lucky. The box she had managed to open was the one containing her books. Exactly what she had been looking for. Ever since her dad had died, Jenny had taken to reading a lot more. It gave her an excuse to avoid conversation with other people and an opportunity to escape reality.

The books she owned were nothing new to her, but right now, they would do. Although she couldn't wait to buy new ones. She couldn't see herself getting too friendly with the townspeople. Without checking which one she'd gotten, she picked up the first book on the stack, sat down on a slightly taller box and opened it. She had read this one before, but it was one of her old favorites and she would readily read it again. It was about an orphan boy who started working for a farmer after a weird dream had led him to the farm. He finally found out that his master was actually a dark wizard and he was taught to transform into a Murkrow, just like the other boys working there. However, each year one of the boys had to be sacrificed to a ghostly, legendary monster living in a different dimension, so the master could survive. The protagonist then met a girl with a voice more beautiful than any Jigglypuff's and fell in love with her. With her help, he tried to break the spell that kept them all from leaving.

She hadn't gotten far, when there was a knock on the door. As she looked up, her mother entered her room with an insecure smile. "So, what do you think? Your room here is much bigger than your old one, hm?"

So, she was still trying to force her to like it. Fantastic. And 'much bigger' was a blatant exaggeration. It was only minimally wider, but that was about it. Jenny just shrugged her shoulders with a bored expression on her face. Her mother didn't get the hint.

"Well, I suppose it'll be much better once everything is at its proper place. Just wait until it's finished!" she said, beaming. Jenny suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. "By the way, wouldn't you like to explore the village a bit? I bet you could find something interesting. Who knows, maybe you'll even get to know a few kids your age you get along with."

Nope, looking impassive obviously didn't do the trick. She tried the scowl again. "I'm fine, Mom. I don't want to 'explore the village' and I don't want to befriend anyone either."

Her mother looked a bit nervous again. "Well, it's just that the Pokémon helping us with the move are finished downstairs. They are supposed to furnish your room now. I guess it would be better, if you weren't here then. It would get a bit cramped in here..." She trailed off.

Jenny sighed. It wasn't because of the space. Both of them knew this. That was just her mother trying to avoid actually naming the issue. It was because of the Pokémon. She had seen them, when they had moved out of their old home. Tall, powerful Machoke who could easily crush a human with their strength. She hated to admit it, but she was scared of them.

When she was younger, she used to think that Pokémon were awesome creatures that could be friends with humans. That changed when she saw her father's own Pokémon killing two people she loved. Ever since then she had thought of them as monsters. Emotionless, violent beasts with superpowers, only made for fighting. The smaller ones were alright. Pokémon like Pidgey or Meowth were pretty docile and perfect pets. But the huge battlers... They made her uncomfortable. She didn't want to be too near them.

Sure, she knew that this would probably be a problem when she set out on a journey. Which she would one day, no matter what her mother told her. After all, she had made a promise she was going to honor, and if it was the last thing she did.

She used to have a friend, Sarah, who she had shared everything with. Sometimes they could have passed off as twins. Perhaps not by their looks, Sarah had been a good bit smaller than her and her black hair had contrasted greatly with Jenny's dark blonde, but they had been so close, people started suspecting them of being psychic. They were not, of course, but it always made them grin. They loved being told how alike they were. Not surprisingly, they had also shared the exact same dream. They had sworn to themselves that they would challenge the various gym leaders, and one day even the elite four. And then they would become champion together. They would be the first ones to share that position, because none of them would be stronger than the other.

Of course, that could never happen anymore. Sarah had been killed in the accident, along with Jenny's father. After that, her mother had put a ban on everything Pokémon-related. She would never let her go on a journey with only Pokémon around her. But her mother didn't understand that she had to go. Not only for her own sake, but also for Sarah. Jenny had to fulfill her promise and somehow she felt that she had to pursue their mutual goal. That her best friend would not find peace until she did. So often, Jenny had cried and screamed and begged and yelled, but it made no difference. Her mother stood her ground. And Jenny decided to hate her, just for that. The things she hated generally outnumbered the ones he loved. And this place was definitely not going to be among these few.

Maybe she would just run away to get what she wanted. But then again, she didn't own any Pokémon... And there was still the terror that paralyzed her, whenever she came face to face with one of these creatures towering over her. When the time came that she had Pokémon of her own, she would definitely have to overcome that fear. She would tame them, train them to never attack her and to follow her every command without exception. She would never be entirely comfortable around them, but they were only means to an end.

Besides, she would just keep them in their Poké Balls for most of the time, only letting them out when they had to battle, and then immediately returning them again. It was actually quite laughable. Creatures with elemental powers and abilities that greatly surpassed humans' could be contained in a small orb, like some bug in a glass. But if it worked, she wouldn't complain. For now though, she really didn't want to deal with this. She could just get used to them when the time came.

Reluctantly she got up, placed her book back in the box and went to leave the house. As she passed the living room, she saw one of the Machoke looking at her and she quickly turned her head and picked up her step. She made sure not to turn her head again and return the Pokémon's stare she was sure she could feel burning into the back of her head. The room suddenly seemed much larger than when she had crossed it before. Only when she was finally outside, did she heave out the breath she hadn't even noticed she was holding. At last she was out of those creatures' range. But now that she was here, she had to actually go and 'explore the village', if she didn't want to wait for the Pokémon to finish.

Jenny decided to start off in a random direction. It was dull. There was nothing that picked her interest. The houses all looked the same to her, similar to their own, and the forest surrounded the village evenly on all sides, save for the small dirt road the truck had taken to get here. She passed a few people on the streets, all greeting her amicably. Reluctantly she muttered a greeting back. No need to get on anyone's bad side yet.

After some time, she heard someone call out "Hey, you, wait up!", not actually thinking much of it. However, when a boy with–wait, was that white hair?–caught up to her, it became clear that he had meant her.

"Hi, I'm Brendan," he greeted with a smile. At closer inspection she could see that, no, it was not hair. He was just wearing a weird looking white hat, with brown hair sticking out from beneath it. He looked to be around her age.

"Jenny," she introduced herself, having been caught a little off-guard.

"You've got to be the one who just moved here today, huh?"

"Uh, yeah..."

"That's cool! I'm kinda glad we're around the same age. Before, May was the only one my age, but she went off to become a Pokémon trainer about a year ago. And the other kids here are all either younger or older than me." He chuckled slightly. Before she could even begin to think about what she was supposed to answer to that, however, he continued. "Do you have any Pokémon yet?"

"No," she said curtly. He didn't need to know that she wasn't allowed to have one.

"Oh, you don't? Well, if you want, I could catch you one! I've only just gotten my first one from my father recently. He's a Pokémon professor, so he's got some cool Pokémon. Hey, we could ask him, if you could have one of his rare ones as well! He probably wouldn't mind, though we'd have to wait, 'till he gets back. He's away on a field study right now. He prefers field work, so he's usually away somewhere."

Jenny blinked at him. Damn, how she wanted to beg him to catch her a Pokémon. But that would be showing weakness, and that was unacceptable. A future champ did not show any weaknesses, ever. Especially if it would be no good anyway. She bit her tongue to keep herself from blurting out something stupid. "We'll see," she answered eventually.

"Yeah, I guess we'd have to wait for him to get back first, anyway."

Speaking quickly, so he couldn't ramble on, she said, "Well, it was nice meeting you, but I've got to go now."

He looked slightly put out at that. "Oh, okay... See you around, I guess."

"Yeah, see ya," she replied, heading back the way she had come, while calm fury began to rise inside of her. What on earth was that idiot thinking? Just offering her a Pokémon like that, when she couldn't have one anyway. Sure, he couldn't know that, but still. It felt like he was mocking her. Her hands clenched into fists and she had to restrain herself from turning around to punch him in the face. She took a different route back to the new house, just to distract herself from the thoughts.

By the time she returned, the move helpers had thankfully already left–along with their Pokémon. She escaped her mother's questions by storming past her into her newly furnished room and threw herself on the bed. Life just wasn't fair.


	2. Chapter 1

I forgot to add a disclaimer last time. But everyone should know that I don't own Pokémon and I don't earn money writing this story.

 **Chapter 1 - At Any Price**

Littleroot Town was mind-numbingly boring. There was literally nothing to do but wait for time to tick by. Jenny kicked at a stone that had the guts to lie in her way, as she slowly walked at the edge of the village, around noon a few weeks after the move. Why did it have to be this place? Why did they have to move at all? She still had no idea. Well, her mother probably thought she would do her a favor. Letting her escape from the memories or some such nonsense. Like that would make everything better. That incident had happened four years ago. She had long since accepted it and gotten over it. So, why now?

Staying in Viridian City had been just fine. It was still the home she had fond memories of, even after everything that had happened there. And if it really had been necessary to move, they could have just chosen a different place in Kanto. Surely, Cerulean City would have been far enough away? Jenny still didn't see the need to move to a completely different region. She had no acquaintances here and didn't know what kind of Pokémon lived here. She had seen a weird pink cat Pokémon and one with zigzag-striped fur, both owned by people in Littleroot, and caught glimpses of a black, vaguely dog-like looking one, when she had been looking through the trees of the forest from behind her window. That one had startled her a little. It hadn't looked very friendly.

However, more important than all this was the fact that she knew nothing about the gyms and Elite Four in this region. At home, she had spent hours and days obsessing over battle strategies against the various gym leaders. She would have used an electric or grass type Pokémon against Misty and a ground type against Surge. Maybe a Sandshrew or a fast Diglett that could keep up with his Raichu. The only one she hadn't been quite sure about was Green, the newest gym leader in Viridian. He was the only one not sticking to one type, after all. But even this obstacle probably wouldn't have posed a problem once she had a couple of decent fighters. In Hoenn, she had no clue what type of Pokémon the gym leaders were using in the first place. Heck, she didn't even know where the gyms were located! She would have to find out about that first. It was annoying.

Well, the first step was still getting a Pokémon and convincing her mother to let her go, but it couldn't hurt to be prepared. The earlier she got out of this little excuse of a town, the better. There was nothing special here that would get her anywhere. Oh, sure, they had a Pokémon laboratory, that stood apparently abandoned half the time. She had seen the professor exactly once, while he was rushing past her into the forest with a bag clutched under his arm. Weird guy. She guessed this was what you called a workaholic.

Brendan had more or less confirmed this, when she had asked him about it the second time he met her outside and insisted on talking to her. She usually avoided him, but she couldn't have her eyes everywhere, so he managed to catch her off guard that one time. Apparently, he also helped his father with his studies and was allowed to leave Littleroot Town on his own sometimes. She had tried not to look too envious, but he didn't notice anything anyway.

Just as she decided that her mother would probably be satisfied if she came back now, since she had just thrown her out to get some fresh air and not spend all freaking day outside, a loud noise caught her attention. She looked up to see if she could find the source. She couldn't see anything unusual around, but the sounds seemed to come from the forest. She ran over to where a small girl was standing next to a tree, peering into the woods right by the path.

"What's going on?" Jenny asked as she arrived next to her.

The girl turned to her, looking terrified. "I don't know! I think I heard someone cry for help!"

Jenny tried to look through the trees, but couldn't make out anything from where she was. "Well, go back into town and find someone to help!" she instructed the girl, who bolted the second she heard it. Jenny looked after her for a moment, and then turned back to the forest. She knew this was probably a stupid thing to do, but curiosity got the best of her. As quietly as she could, she went ahead, looking for the source of the noise.

She found it not far in. As she stepped around a large hedge, she saw a familiar brown haired man with a beard, wearing a lab coat. It was the professor, trying to hold one of the black-grey dog Pokémon off with a long stick. His right sleeve was torn and a little bloody. Apparently, the Pokémon had already managed to bite him. The second he saw her, he waved his free hand that had been gripping at the tree behind him, before pointing to his bag lying quite a distance away from him, behind the Pokémon.

"Thank God, you found me. You've got to help me! Quick, look through my bag, there are a few Pokémon in there. Use them to chase this Poochyena off!" he cried out to her.

She could feel herself shaking. This growling Pokémon–a Poochyena apparently–hardly looked harmless with its bared teeth and bristled fur. But this was not the time to think about something like that. She forced herself to move stiffly and go over to the bag to open it, trying to ignore the pounding of her heart and the paranoia that the feral thing would attack her as well and rip her to shreds. Sure enough, there were three Poké Balls, each one containing a Pokémon. Not only that; lying on top of a stack of papers and a clipboard, there was also a Pokédex. She had seen one of those before. Her father had owned an old model and let her browse through all the entries he had collected himself, back when he was a trainer. It was one of the most useful devices, when you wanted to travel through the countryside; because it could provide you with information on every kind of Pokémon you saw and caught. It would be especially helpful, if you had no clue about the region and the Pokémon inhabiting it...

"What are you doing? Hurry!" the professor urged her on, as the Poochyena managed to sink its teeth into the stick, shaking its head from side to side, so the professor had a hard time holding on to it.

Jenny's mind worked feverishly. She could use these Pokémon to fight the wild one off and feel like a real trainer for a minute. But if she took one and ran... That would be stealing. On the other hand, that guy was a professor. He probably had loads of Pokémon. Losing one would not hurt him. But that Poochyena might. If she did nothing, the professor would- No, there was the girl. She would probably be back with a real trainer in a second. Someone who could actually do something to help. It wasn't like Jenny had ever fought a single battle. There was nothing she could do anyway. She would just lose spectacularly and be torn apart as well, or make everything even worse by accidentally injuring the professor in the process.

The decision was made in a split second. She grabbed one of the Poké Balls as well as the Pokédex and bolted.

She heard a startled "Hey, where are you going? Come back!", but just kept on running. It was a stupid idea, something inside of her said. Another part of her screamed at her to go back and help the professor. Jenny ignored both. As fast as she could, she raced through the forest, dodging trees and jumping over roots sticking out of the ground, until she had to stop and catch her breath. Her lungs were burning, her legs shaking and her hands slick with sweat. It was a miracle she hadn't lost Poké Ball and Pokédex on the way.

Only then, leaning against the rough bark of a tree and trying to calm her heart that threatened to break right out of her chest, did she think about what she just did. She stole a Pokémon from a professor and left him behind, defenseless against a wild monster. Panic was trying to claw its way into her consciousness, but she battled it down with great effort. Calm down. She couldn't effort to freak out now. The girl had gotten someone to save him. She must have. What was done couldn't be changed anymore anyway. She had to make the best of the current situation.

Yes, her mother would be furious, but that would probably be her smallest problem. Technically, she was a criminal for not helping someone in danger and even robbing him. There would most likely be people looking for her, so she would have to leave immediately and not come back. If they caught her, she would never be able to leave this prison of a town ever again. Maybe they would even imprison her for real. Not a very pleasant thought. Well, the upside was, she finally had a Pokémon, even though she had no idea what kind, yet.

Jenny raised the red and white capsule to look at it. There was no indication about what it contained. Well, that didn't matter, did it? She had a Pokémon. She could finally go on a journey to fulfill her dream. Hers and Sarah's. She never expected this to happen, but who was she to complain about a once in a lifetime chance like that? If she had been one of the more simple minded, she would have called it fate. As it was, Jenny did not believe in fate and everyone who did was an idiot. Nothing happened for a specific reason and every lucky opportunity was just that. Luck. You either took it or you wasted it. Nothing in this world came for free, so you had to take it onto yourself to make the best of your life. And that was just what she had done. Nothing more, nothing less.

It was unfortunate that the professor had drawn the short straw, but this was just his own bad luck. If she hadn't been there, nobody would have stolen his stuff, but nobody would have sent the girl to get help, either. So, that probably evened things out a bit. With her guilty conscience calmed a little, she turned her attention to the Poké Ball in her hand. Well, before she could go on, she had to find out what kind of Pokémon she actually had. It was time to reveal its secret.

She gripped the round object tightly, preparing herself for what was to come, before throwing it to the ground. A bright light appeared that took the shape of a bipedal creature a moment later. She watched as the light dimmed, revealing a green reptilian creature with a red belly and a thick, leafy tail that was parted down the middle. It looked around at its surroundings for a second, before its huge yellow eyes with the slitted pupils settled on her, gazing at her calmly, maybe a little curiously.

Jenny had never seen a Pokémon like this before, but from its appearance and color, she estimated it to be a grass type. That was okay, she guessed. Most grass types were not very scary, but either cute, elegant or just plain beautiful. At the very least, it was smaller than she was, so that was a plus. How it did in battle would remain to be seen. Just as it tilted its head a bit, still holding eye contact with her, she remembered the other object still in her hand.

Quickly she opened up the Pokédex, which immediately sprang to action. A small light lit up on the upper half, while the screen provided her with information about the creature in front of her. "A Treecko, huh?" she asked, reading its name. She had been right with her guess. Treecko, the Wood Gecko Pokémon, was indeed a grass type. This one was male and it even knew the attack Absorb on top of the normal moves Pound and Leer. The Pokédex also showed a short description of the species: _Treecko is cool, calm, and collected–it never panics under any situation. If a bigger foe were to glare at this Pokémon, it would glare right back without conceding an inch of ground._

"Perfect," she mumbled. It really was her lucky day. This Pokémon–this Treecko–would surely prove to be useful. Her quest could begin.


End file.
